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Native American view of Thanksgiving different

Real day might have been in October

By Dan Barker

Times News Editor

Posted:
12/11/2013 04:00:00 PM MST

Matt Vianna, right, spoke about a Native American view on the first Thanksgiving, giving some historical perspective during this month's brown bag lunch presentation at the Fort Morgan Library and Museum Tuesday. He brought members of the audience up to play the parts of Native Americans and colonists in the 17th century. (Dan Barker / Fort Morgan Times)

The first Thanksgiving was not all sweetness and light — particularly from the Native American viewpoint.

That was part of the message from Matt Vianna as he presented "Thanksgiving: Fact and Fiction" during the Fort Morgan Library and Museum's monthly brown bag lunch presentation Tuesday.

When colonists first arrived in an area around what is now called Mystic, Conn., they were welcomed by the Native Americans living there, and taught how to plant and care for native crops such as corn, beans and squash, and how to hunt wild turkeys, he said.

However, the settlers did not succeed well at raising the new crops at first, Vianna said. By the time of the harvest, they had no corn or beans. They had some pumpkins and turkey, but the turkey was rotting, because they did not know how to preserve it.

Rotten turkey equaled disease, and the colonists had come to the area already ill from a long trip, he said.

A representative of the colonists came to ask the natives what they were doing wrong.

Part of the problem was that the colonists did not understand the Native American culture in that area, Vianna said.

In that culture, the clan mother was the ultimate authority and the expert on crops, and the colonists had a hard time following the direction of women, he said. When they wanted to know something, they consulted the male leader called the Sachem, but he referred them to the clan mother.

She embarrassed them by taking them through the native's crops and explaining how to care for them.

They also did not understand other structures of the native culture. For instance, the women and children always ate first, then the men, then the trail leader, and lastly the Sachem, Vianna explained.

"The chief put everyone before himself," Vianna said.

The colonists came to the Native American area for that first Thanksgiving feast. About 1,600 natives hosted about 2,500 colonists, because the natives were the ones who had the food.

One colonist had become sympathetic to Native American culture, and reported to his leaders overseas that the natives had fed and clothed the colonists, Vianna said.

However, the leaders were outraged, accusing the colonists of becoming like the natives. He was told to just take the land and the food.

When he told the natives, the clan mothers were not happy, and were unwilling to give up their goods. Nonetheless, they were willing to share their goods, Vianna said.

The colonists' response was to send an armed group of 25 to 30 men to attack the natives, but half of them ran away when the natives returned fire, he said. The natives released the soldiers they captured, still willing to welcome the newcomers.

The colonists attacked again, and soldiers were killed by the natives, who were ready to defend their children and food, Vianna said.

After that, the colonists got on their ships and seemed to disappear over the horizon, but they sent soldiers back in the night to burn the village down. The native homes were very flammable, he said.

Many men, women and children died, and women were enslaved, Vianna said.

Metis means Native American mixed with French ancestry, so these Native Americans do not fit the stereotype of long hair and smooth faces. Metis have facial hair, and they do not wear their hair long, Vianna said.

Vianna said he studied under Julie Jennings, who learned the old stories from Northeast elders like Slow Turtle and John Running Deer.

Jennings' own genealogy runs back to the 1500s, which is a long time, Vianna noted.

The story of Thanksgiving, and other stories were passed down by the elders, and there is some historic documentation, he said.

It is hard to say exactly when during 1667 the actual first Thanksgiving happened, Vianna said. Some Native Americans celebrate harvest day on Oct. 10, so that may be when it happened, but probably was not in November.

Historical narratives come from a subjective point of view, and that is how people inherited the cultural perspectives they have today, said Museum Educator Andrew Dunehoo.

It is a collective of perspectives that gives a variety of views, and produces a well-rounded historical perspective, he said.

These may not be the things that Europeans have heard before, Vianna said, but the historical record is there, and people must make up their own minds what to think after hearing other perspectives.

Vianna said that Europeans were certainly not the only people who committed atrocities during history.

People can learn to be full of thanksgiving every day, which is an ideal of the Native American perspective, and that is something all can share, he said. People should not need special days of thanksgiving if they live every day with gratitude.

All people share the basics of human life, such as food, family, anger, sadness and happiness, Vianna said.

Making the world better is about "What we do for each other," he said.

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